US387996A - pendleton - Google Patents

Description

' (No Model) 2 SheetsSheet 1.

J. H; PENDLETON.

GRIPPING DEVICE FOR CABLE RAILWAYS.

No. 387,996. Patented Afig. 14, 1888..

N. PETERS PhMoLikhognphur. Washington. DC.

2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

J-NH. PENDLETON GRI'PPING DEVICE FOR CABLE RAILWAYS.

(No Model) No. 387,996. Patented Aug. 14. 1888.

N PETERS. PboloLhhuMr. Washing'vrl. D.C.

NITED' STATES PATENT Ormcr.

JOHN H. PENDLETON, OF BROOKLYN, ASSIGNOR TO THE RAPID TRANSIT CABLE COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

GRIPPING DEVICE FOR CABLE RAILWAY S.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 387,996, dated August 14, 1888.

\ Application filed April 13, 1887. Renewed June 13. 1888. Serial No. 276,936. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. PENDLETON, of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented an Improvement in Gripping Devices for Cable Railways, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to pump into a reservoir atmospheric air as the car is drawn alongby an underground traction-cable, and

to then to make use of the'compressed air in operating the grip for grasping or releasing the cable, and to stop the car by the action of pumps that also force air into the reservoir, the atmospheric pressure becoming a resist- I 5 ance to the pumps, that receive their motion from the wheels; and I also make use of an airengine in which the atmosphere under pressure operates to revolve the wheels and start the car previous to gripping the cable, so that the Wear upon the grip will be reduced to a minimum.

In the drawings, Figurel isadiagrammatic plan view representing the positions of the air-cylinders,reservoir-cocks, and pipes. Fig.

2 is a cross-section representing the grip, the tunnel, and the traction cable. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of one of the four way cocks. Fig. 4 is an elevation of the gear-shifting device. Fig. 5 is a plan view eorrespondo ing in position to the parts shown in Fig. 1, except that the pipes and cooks are omitted for greater clearness,and portions of the gearing are in section. Fig. 6 is a vertical longitudinal section of the parts contained in Fig.

5 5; and Fig. 7 is a cross-section ot'the frame and crank-shaft to represent the positions of the air-cylinders.

The dotted lines A, Figs. 1 and 5, indicate the outline of the car and platforms, and a 0 portion of the car is shown in Fig. 6, and my improvements are especially available with ordinary street-cars supported on four wheels, B B. The journal-boxes for these wheels may be of any ordinary character and are notshown in the drawings.

There is a quadrangular frame, 0, resting upon the axles b, and this frame supports the air-pumps and devices hereinafter described, and the traction cable D is represented as Within the tunnel E, and the lower portion, F, of the gripping device is provided with rollers 2 at the ends, and the upper jaw, F,

of the gripping device, suspended below the cross-bars O of the frame 0; and upon the lower portion of the grip F is a vertical plate, 5 3, between the hanging plates 4. 4., that support the upper part, F, of the grip, and there is a screw, G, that acts upon a nut, 5, that is fastened to the plate 3 to raise the same and grip the cable or the reverse; and there is a worm-wheel,6,at the upper end of the screw G, and a worm-pinion,7,to act upon the same. The shaft H of this worm-pinion 7 runs longitudinally of the car,and there are couplings 8 and 9 between the shaft H and the end por- 6 tions, H, that are supported in bearings 10 upon the under side of the car, so that the frame O and shaft H may remain upon the axles of the wheel as the body of the car rises and falls upon the car-springs; and there are bevel gear-wheels 1-1 and vertical shafts andhandles H at the ends of the car, by which the screw G can be operated by hand-power whenever desired in gripping or releasing the cable or in dropping or picking up the same. 7

At K there is a reservoir of suitable size at tached to the under side of the car, or it is preferable to have two such reservoirs, as shown, and suitablesafety-valves are provided to these reservoirs.

Upon the frame 0 is a suitable pump, L, actuated by an eccentric and rod, 13, and this is in operation whenever the car is in motion, to pump air through the pipe 14 into the reservoir K, to form a storage of air under a suffi- 8 cient-high pressure forthe purposes hereinafter named. This pump should be provided with an automatic regulating device that shuts off the admission of air when a given pressure is attained, thereby lessening the expenditure of 0 power. A pump of this character is shown in my patent, No. 351,124, granted October 19, 1886.

Upon the axle Z; are the bevel-gears 2O 21, which are kept in place by a central collar, 5 22, and the clutches 23 and 24 slide upon keys or feathers upon such axle b, and there are levers 25 and 26 pivoted to the crossbar C by which the respective friction-clutches 23 24 are brought into action and there is a 100 crank-shaft, N, with bevelgears 30 at the ends thereof, gearing into the respective bevel-gears 20 21, and the levers 25 and 26 are acted upon by the pistons in the aircylinders O 0, respectively. The parts just described are duplicated in connection with the two axles b b, in order that the strain may be divided and power made use of from'all four wheels; but if desired the gearing and levers can be made useof with only one of the axles b.

It will now be understood that when the lever or levers 26 are made to press the clutches 24 against the bevel-gears 21 the rotation'of the car-wheels B and axles b will revolve the crank-shaft N in one direction, and that when the levers 25 are acted upon and the levers 26 released the shaft N will be revolved in the other direction by the bevel gear-wheels; and to the crank-shaft N three pumps are connected, which pumps are preferably oscillating and supported by brackets from the frame 0 and cross-bars G and G The pump 1? is connected by the pipe 31 to the pipe 14, and this pump 1? has a four-way cock, 32, that can be turned by the longitudinal rod 33 and one of the arms or levers 34 at the end of the car. When this cock 32 is in one position, the air will be drawn in and pumped through the pipes 31 and 14 into the reservoirs K. When the cook 32 is in the other position, air will discharge freely from both ends of the pump and not pass into the pipe 31. The object of this pump P is to avail of the inertia of the car to pump air into the reservoirs K,and in so doing to stop the car by the resistance of the air under pressure acting in the pump 1?; hence whenthe car is to be stopped the grip is released and the cook 32 turned, so that the rotation of the shaftN will cause the pump P to force 'air into the reservoir K and act as a brake, and in so doing the pressure of the air in the reservoir K is augmented.

The cylinders Q Q form an air engine or motor in starting the car. Their piston-rods are connected to the crank-shaft N ,and the cranks on this shaft N are to be at right angles to each other, (see Fig. 7,) and the valves of the cylinders Q Q are such that these cylinders Q Qact as air-engines to rotate the shaft N in one direction only whenever air under pressure is admitted into such cylinders Q Q.

The pipes 6 connect the reservoirs K with the air-engines Q Q, and in these pipes are the valves or cocks 42, so that the air can be turned on from either end of the car to set these airengines Q Qin motion, and the properlevers,

' 25 or 26, are first moved to connect the bevelgearing and axles B by the friction-clutches, so that when the air-engines Q Q commence to move, they will revolve the wheels B in the proper direction and move the car forward, and as the velocity of the car increases the screw G is rotated and the cable gripped. By this feature of my improvement the car can be started gradually and receive the same speed, or nearly so, as the cable before the cable is gripped, and there will not be any sudden or unpleasant jar upon the car or wear upon the cable, and should the car be heavily loaded or upon an ascending grade the airengines Q Q can be availed of to lessen the strain upon the cable. A

In order to operate the respective levers 25 and 26 by the air-cylinders O O, I connect the cylinders O by the pipes z',which extend from the four-way cocks 40, and I connect the cylinders O by the pipes n,which extend also to the cooks 40, and enter the same at the side opposite to the pipes z, and from these cocks 40 the pipes 1' lead to the reservoirs K. Either cock 40 can be turned to admit air into the cylinders O, and inso doing the pressure will be relieved from the cylinders to admit air under pressure through the pipes n into the cylinders O, and in so doing the pressurein 0 will be relieved, or the cock 40 can be turned so as to relieve all the cylinders. O 0 from pressure by allowing the air under pressure to escape into the atmosphere at the opening in the four-way cook 40. By this means the bevelgear's 20 or 21 can be connected by the respective friction-clutches with the axles b, or the friction-clutches may be released, leaving the bevel-gears loose and disconnecting the crank-shaft N from the axle b. By these means the air-engines Q Q can be made to rotate the axle b in whatever direction is desired for moving the car forward or backward, or the engines can be stopped and the gearing loosened so as to turn freely.

I make use of the air under pressure in the reservoir K to give motion to the worm-pinion 7. For this purpose I place on the crankshaft N a friction-wheel, S, preferably with V-shaped peripheral grooves, and there are two friction-pinions, S S, geared together by the wheels 50 and 56, and these friction pinions and wheels are in a swinging frame, T,

and there is an air -cylinder, U, supported upon the frame 0 and having the two pipes 1- pleading to the same above and below the piston, and the piston-rod is connected to the swinging frame T. The four-waycocks 41 are constructed similarly to the four-way cocks shown in Fig. 3, and the pipes 51 lead from the same to the reservoirs K, so that by either of the four-way cocks 41 air under pressure can be admitted to move the piston in the cylinder U either one way or the other way and swing the frame T, or the cock 41 can be turned so as to admit atmosphere freely to both sides of the piston in the cylinder U and allow the parts to hang freely.

The friction-pinion S is upon the shaft H; hence when the air is admitted to swing the lower end of the frame T upwardly the friction-pinion S and the shaft H and worm-pinion 7 will be revolved directly from the crankshaft N; but when air is admitted to the other side of the piston in the cylinder U and the frame T swung downwardly the friction-pinion S is pressed into contact with the frictionwheel S, and the shaft H and worm-pinion are revolved in the opposite direction by the gearwheels 50 and 56, reversing the direction of rotation without the direction of rotation of the shaft N being changed, thereby allowing for the attendant clamping the cable by the grip or releasing the same, as may be required, and the motion taken from the revolving shaft N being through the medium of frictional surfaces, one part will slide upon anotherwithout risk of injury should the air-pressure be continued too long.

I claim as my invention 1. The combination,with the car wheels and axles and a frame supported by the axles, of the vertical plates 3 4t 4, the gripping-jaws at thelowerends of the plates, the screw G, screwwheel, worm-pinion, and shaft for actuating the worm-pinion, the bevel-gears and hand wheels or cranks, and the couplings, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination,with the cable and grip and the car wheels and axles, of a pump and a reservoir into which air is pumped, and frictional gearing upon the axle by which the in ertia of the car in stopping is availed of in compressing atmospheric air into the reservoir, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with the traction-cable,

grip, car wheels and axles, of a reservoir containing air under pressure, an air-engine operated thereby, and mechanism connecting the same with the axle, substantially as specified, whereby the air-engine is employed to start the car gradually before gripping the cable, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination, with the cable, car wheels and axles upon a cable railway, of a reservoir upon the car for holding air under pressure, a pump for forcing air into the reservoir while the car is in motion, a pump that is brought into action when the car is to be stopped, and mechanism connecting the pump with the axle, so that the resistance of the air in the pump overcomes the momentum of the car, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with the traction-cable, grip, car wheels and axle, of an air-reservoir, a pump operated from one of the axles for forcing air into the reservoir, bevel-gearing and frictional connections between the same and the axle, a crankshaft connected with the bevel-gearing, and an air-pump that forces air into the reservoir, and serves also as a brake to stop the car, and a cock for bringing the air-pump into action or disconnecting it, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination, with the car wheels and axles, of bevel gearing and a shaft driven by the gearing, frictional connections between the bevel-gearing and the axle, levers and aircylinders, and air-reservoirand cockfor bringing into action either one of the frictional connections between the gearing and the axle, substantially as specified.

7. The combination, with the car wheels and axles, of a reservoir for containing air under pressure, air-engine cylinders, the crank-shaft, and bevel-gearing between the same and the axle, a frictional connection between the axle and gearing, and an air'cylinder, piston, and lever, and a pipe and cook to admit air from the reservoir and operate the frictional connection thereby, substantially as set forth.

8. The combination, with the cable and grip and the car wheels and axles, of bevel-gearing and a frictional connection between the same and the axles, an air-cylinder and lever to actuate the frictional connection, a screw pinion and wheel to actuate the gripping device, and a frictional connection for rotating the worm-pinion and gri pping-screw,su bstantiall y as set forth. a

9. The combination, with the cable grip, the car wheel and axles, and a frictionwheel revolved bya connection to the axle, of frictionpinions geared together, a swinging frame carrying the same, an air-reservoir, an air-cylinder and connecting-pipes, and a four-way cock, by which air under pressure is caused to press one of the frictional pinions into contact with the revolving friction-wheel, and thereby open or close the cablegrip, substantially as set forth.

J. H. PENDLETON.

W'itnesses:

Gno. T. PINOKNEY, CHAS. E. SMITH.

Images